


Sea Legs

by Imagines_Dreams



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: F/M, The Little Mermaid AU, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 00:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17032611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imagines_Dreams/pseuds/Imagines_Dreams
Summary: The Little Mermaid AU. You have always been interested in how humans lived, walked, danced, and interacted with their strange inventions. When you spot a human too interesting to ignore, you decide that watching from afar wasn’t enough anymore.





	1. Chapter 1

“Humans,” you gasped. Despite your friend’s protests, you swam away, heading towards the human-occupied ships. Even though you were underwater, you could hear the music vibrating through the waves. You laughed and swam along to the beat. Wonderful!

“(Y/n), wait up!”

You laughed, looked over your shoulder, and shouted, “Come on, Evan! It’s not every day you see a ship with actual humans on it.”

“Yeah because the king said not to approach them, (Y/n). Are you sure about this?”

You sighed and stopped swimming. “Evan, if you want to stay here, you can. I won’t blame you, but I want to.” You smiled and swam in circles. “I mean listen to the music!” you squealed. “I’m going over.” You swam away.

“Be careful! Please!” Evan warned.

It only took you a few seconds to reach the bottom of the ship. You lifted your head above the water and found some parts of the ship you could hang onto. You climbed the edge of the ship and reached an open porthole. You carefully peeked inside.

A man, maybe a tad older than you were, was sitting in a chair while a girl shouted at him. “You can’t tell me you don’t want to enjoy your own party.”

“It’s not my party,” he stated nonchalantly.

“It’s your birthday.”

“That I would like to spend alone.” He eyed her. “Now, please, let me-”

“Smoke and rot in peace.” She shook her head. “You know what, be my guest, Connor.” She slammed the door behind her.

He rolled his eyes and before he grabbed his pipe, Connor shouted, “That’s Prince Connor to you, sis!” The prince, whatever that meant, turned in his chair, and you gasped. He was handsome. Long, wavy hair framed his face and strong, defined jaw. His eyes were glassy, as if he was daydreaming about something. He put the pipe to his lips, breathed in deeply, and blew out smoke. Connor sighed and relaxed in his chair.

You blushed and looked away. You were intruding. You couldn’t… Oh, he was very handsome. A bit temperamental maybe, but interesting. Why blow out smoke? Did he create it? Why ignore the music above him?

The music! You still wanted to listen. Maybe you could see some dancing, too!

You never got to do that. Before you could climb again, the boat rocked violently.

You held on and stared at the sky. Too many clouds. You dived back into the ocean. The water was whirling around you. A storm was coming. You sighed. You had to swim home. It would be difficult to get home when the waves were pushing and pulling against your tail.

You gazed longingly at the ship before turning around and swimming back to your best friend.

“Are we done? Can we please be done? The storm’s coming, and I-I don’t want to be near the humans when that happens,” Evan admitted.

You nodded. “We should go back.”

Evan smiled. “Great! We have so much stuff to do anyway. We have the festival coming up and don’t forget that we still need to-”

The water pushed Evan and you forward. You screamed and tried to regain your composure after that tidal wave. You quickly spotted Evan out of control. You sped towards him and grabbed his arm. He held onto you as you swan for the surface. Just as you two broke the surface, another wave slammed against the two of you and pushed you back underwater. Evan held onto you, making sure the two of you weren’t separated. “We need to go back!” he yelled.

You clenched your jaw. The ship… Where was the ship?

“Evan, the humans!”

He followed your eyes and gasped. “They’re hurt.”

The two of you locked eyes, and you both knew there was only one option the two of you could live with. “You’re the best, Evan,” you said.

He sighed. “Let’s go save some monsters.”

Hand in hand, the two of you swam towards the sinking ship. It took a few seconds for the two of you to find some humans and bring them to nearby rocks or shore. “The prince,” you whispered. He wasn’t among the people you and Evan had saved. “The girl.” You dived back into the ocean. You passed by Evan and told him, “There are two people still out there. A girl and a prince.”

He nodded and swam along with you.

“There!” He pointed at two people. The prince was reaching for the girl, but it seemed like he couldn’t be underwater for longer. Evan and you swam towards them with amazing speed. Just as Connor closed his eyes, you grabbed him by the waist and pulled him towards the surface. You took him to shore as fast as you could. Evan was next to you, with the girl. “She’s breathing,” he said with a smile. “She’s ok.”

You put a hand on Connor’s chest. There was a faint beating within him, but there was water in his chest. You blinked a few times before pushing against his chest.

Connor suddenly coughed up water.

Evan squeaked and dived back into the water.

You just beamed. “You’re ok!”

The prince asked in a raspy, cracked voice, “Zoe.”

The girl. “She’s ok. You’re ok.” You laughed and touched his cheek. “I couldn’t get your smoking thing, but you’re going to be ok.”

He gazed up at you, and for a moment, it was just the two of you. As if under a trance, Connor’s hand covered yours, and you couldn’t fight the blush the crept onto your cheeks. You were just so happy he was ok. Add the fact that he was gazing at you as if you were the most beautiful thing in the world. It made your heart flutter, and your words get stuck in your throat.

“(Y/n)!” Evan shouted.

You looked over your shoulder and blinked a few times. You had to go back.

You smiled at Connor. “You’ll be ok. I promise.” You dived back into the ocean.

You giggled and touched your hand, the hand he touched. You had met a human! A handsome one at that too. He looked at you with such adoration. You squealed and twirled. “Evan, did you see that? We just-”

“Did he see you? You shouldn’t have stayed up there, (Y/n).”

“Relax, he didn’t see me.”

“Are you sure? Because I do not want to be some course on his menu. You know what humans do merpeople, (Y/n).” Evan grabbed onto his hair. “What if there’s going to be a bounty on our heads? You don’t think-”

“Evan!” You grabbed his hands and lowered them from his head. When he was looking at you, you calmly stated, “We’re fine. And if anything were to happen, you know they’d have to get to me first.”

Evan still looked frantic.

You smiled and let him hold your hand and squeeze it. After a few minutes, he sighed “T-Thank you.”

“No problem. Now, why don’t you tell me about that girl?”

“Girl?” He blushed. “What girl?”

You shrugged. “Her name’s Zoe, by the way.”

The rest of his face turned red. He kept quiet and swam with you towards home. Both of you didn’t have to ask the other to see what you were thinking of. Evan was entranced with the idea of Zoe, and you… Well, humans just became a lot more interesting.


	2. Your Voice

You had found a pipe just like Connor’s. You blew through it, but it only produced bubbles. You took it apart, put it back together again, but still, you couldn’t understand how it worked.

“Maybe you’re missing a piece,” Jared suggested as he examined a pipe similar to yours.

“You’re right.” You placed the pipe on one of your shelves. “Also, it may not work underwater.”

“Well, I still think it’s pretty cool.” Jared put his pipe next to yours. “I need to steal some more books if we’re going to figure any of this out.”

You laughed. “Thanks, Jared. Hey, bring over that new invention. I could test it out.”

“And modify it like you did the last inventions?”

“Hey, your catapults worked better after I got my hands on it,” you reminded him.

Jared laughed. “Yeah, you also almost blew up the balcony when you were ‘testing’ the trident.”

“Hey, you were the one who suggested we check that thing out.”

“And you were the one who was supposed to read up on it.” Jared laughed. 

You threw a seashell at him. “Get out of my grotto!”

“Ha! I was only telling the truth!”

You laughed and continued poking around your collection. You took things apart and put them back together, trying to understand the mechanisms behind the human inventions.

That got cut short when Evan rushed into the grotto. “(Y/n), my father, he’s-”

You saw him in the distance. “Get behind me.”

Evan followed your instructions just as the king entered the grotto. His eyes went wide at your expansive collection. “Your majesty-”

“Stop this,” he demanded.

You scoffed. “Just because you put some law doesn’t mean that they’re all dangerous.”

“They killed our people, (Y/n). That is all you and I need to know. What use could you have of…” He groaned, and his grip on his famous trident tightened.

Evan cowered next to you, but you weren’t done. “You don’t understand, your majesty. They’ve advanced as a species!” You pointed out the music box with dancing people on top of it. “Look at this. They have so much time on their hands that they create beautiful things like this. It plays music. We can be like them, learn from them. How can you-”

“How can I? How can you? (Y/n), humans are dangerous. How can you collect all of this when they are the ones who kill us?” He turned to his son. “How could you be a part of-”

You guarded Evan from the king. “I dragged him into this.”

The king shook his head. “To believe my son interacts with the girl in love with monsters.”

“Well, maybe if you let us interact with them, let them understand us, then maybe-”

“No!” His eyes burned with rage. He slapped the music box from your hands.

You gasped, and tears reached your eyes.

The king extended his trident and effectively blocked you from retrieving the broken music box. “You are forbidden from seeing, observing, interacting with the humans.” His voice boomed and echoed within your grotto. You were tempted to cover your ears and cower in front of him, but you stood tall. “You can’t forbid from what I love doing!”

He faltered. He didn’t expect you to have such passion for this. Then, the king’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe, but I can set you and your ‘research’ back.” He eyed your collection, your precious collection.

“No, please.” You swam up to your collection, shielding it from the trident. “If you could just listen-”

The trident glowed, and Evan wasn’t going to lose you. “(Y/n)!” Evan grabbed you by the arm and hugged you close. “No!” you screamed. Just like that, your collection turned to bubbles and debris. All of your hard work. All of your inventions. All of the years of progress. It was all gone. You whined your loss and buried yourself in Evan’s embrace.

It was gone. Your passion, your life, and love, it was all gone.

Evan’s father glared at the two of you, and your best friend only stared at the ground as you held onto him. Then, the king left.

Evan stroked your hair with shaking fingers. “I-I’m sorry.”

You nodded and buried yourself in his chest. 

“Do you want to stay?”

You nodded.

“Do you want… me to stay?”

You sniffed and hugged him closer. 

He took a deep breath and smiled a little. “Ok/” He hugged you tighter and thanks Poseidon for giving him you. “I’ll stay.”

Evan and you have turned over every stone and combed through every coral. You could only salvage the broken music box. The dancers had lost their arms, and the rest of them were cracked. You held it to your chest and sobbed as quietly as you could.

Evan swam to you and patted you on the back. “Uh, I know it sucks. But, I mean, you can make a new collection! Yeah, maybe. I mean, yeah a lot of it’s, well gone, but I can help you. We can explore more sunken ships and that kind of thing!”

When you didn’t move, Evan patted you on the back again. “(Y/n), I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do. I know that meant so much to you, and I’ve never dealt with anything like this, and I don’t know how to help you-”

“I know someone who can help.”

You lifted your head. Two eels appeared and slithered around the two of you. Evan gripped your shoulders and shakily warned, “H-Hey, we know the king. You can’t just h-hurt us or anything.”

You clutched your box to your chest. “What do you want?”

“Nothing, dears,” one of them said. The other brushed up against your arm. “Just want to help.” The two of them claimed, “The sea witch can help you.”

“Sea witch?” you asked. You had heard rumors, none of which were good, but she did have magic. Maybe she could convince the king to open his mind a little. That could happen right. Then, you could observe the humans again! Maybe you’d see Connor again.

Evan whispered, “I don’t trust them, (Y/n).”

“Me neither,” you said truthfully. “But, still… Take me to her.”

“(Y/n)!”

“You don’t have to come, but I’m going. I’ll prove that the king is wrong. He needs to see that humans can help us.” You squeezed his hand. “I’ll be ok.”

“(Y/n)-”

One of the eels wrapped their tails around your wrist and pulled you away from him. You gave Evan one last smile before following the eels.

When you arrived, you knew Evan was nearby, watching, and it kept you at ease as you entered the sea witch’s home. Her plants were a little too lifelike and too sticky and too clingy. Then, a loud almost hypnotizing voice yelled out, “I told you two not to force customers onto to me!” Tentacles carried the figure of a beautiful woman into view. She smiled and hugged her eels. “You two are too much, and who is this?”

She gasped at the sight of you and bowed. 

You laughed a little. “Um, I’m not royalty.”

The sea witch laughed. “I’m so sorry. It’s just… I’ve seen you with the royal family many times. I thought… Well, not matter. What can I do for you?”

You gulped. “I want to understand humans. I want everyone to understand them.”

“Humans. How interesting.” She and her eels scoured the shelves of ingredients and books. “Well, dear, I have magic that can turn a human into a fish. Would that do?”

You shook your head. “I don’t know any humans.”

“Well, there are more! Don’t worry, dear, I will find something.” She hummed a song, almost like a lullaby, as she searched. “Well, I have a traveling spell. You can go to another ocean if you want, observe without the laws hanging above you.”

“The king would find me,” you reasoned.

She humphed. “Well, I have one more, but it’s quite, um, unconventional.” She grabbed a few vials and arranged them around her cauldron. “And for that reason, the price is quite high.”

Your heart dropped. “I don’t have any-”

“Oh, by price, it could be a lot of things. A favor, a lock of hair.” She hummed. “For you, though, maybe your voice.” She laughed. “A beautiful voice in exchange for” -she smashed a purple vial against the cauldron and smoke floated up from it revealing an image of you with- “Legs!”

You sighed in awe. You swam closer to it and admired the image of you in legs. In clothes. Next to- “Connor,” you whispered.

The sea witch smirked. “Oh, you know the prince from up there, hm? Well, yes, the deal would be, your voice in exchange for legs for, let’s say, about three days. If you can get true love’s kiss within that time, you can keep your legs, get your voice back, and go from sea to shore as you wish!”

You smiled. That sounded wonderful. Freedom in exchange for your silence in three days. You could observe humans as much as you wanted. Hell, you’d become one of them! You could dance and walk and jump and run.

“Wait,” you said. “What if I don’t get true whatever in time?”

“Well, that would be the downside. You’d get your voice and tail, but you’d have to work for me.”

You looked around the house. It didn’t seem like there was much work to do. You could see Evan from the window. He was terrified.

“You can consult with your princey friend out there if you want,” she said.

Your eyes widened. Evan swam inside and held your shoulders. “I still don’t trust her,” he whispered. “I mean look at her!”

“Evan, this is the opportunity of a lifetime.”

“You’d have to work for her, (Y/n).”

“She doesn’t seem all that bad!” You gestured to her. “I mean, look at her. She took in two half-blind eels as pets. The price isn’t that bad.”

Your best friend sighed.”(Y/n), I-I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

You loved Evan. You really did, but he had to understand. “Evan, if your father offered you the royal gardens in exchange that you had to do a few chores here and there, would you take it?”

Evan blinked a few times. “Of course I would.”

You squeezed his hand. “I need to do this.”

He hugged you tightly. “You have to stay safe, ok? And if you need help-”

“I’ll go straight to the ocean and get you.” You nodded and kissed his cheek. “Thanks so much, Evan.” You held onto his hand as you announced, “I’ll do it.”


	3. Second First Meeting

You stared down at yourself. Legs! You smiled and touched them. Hairy and weird and so beautiful. You pushed yourself up and immediately fell back down into the water. You humphed and shoved your hair out of your face. This was going to be trickier than you thought.

You stared at your bare legs.

You also needed clothes. Clothes were a must-have. All the humans had them.

“So, how do feel? Does it feel like you have two tails?”

You smiled and gave a thumbs up.

Evan tilted his head. “So like two tails?”

You shrugged and sat up.

Evan averted his gaze. “Uh, ok, well I think, uh, I think we have some old human clothes at that one shipwreck. Uh, I’ll see you in a jiffy. A few minutes. I mean-”

You stared at Evan with a smile.

He sighed. “I’m going.”

A few minutes later, you were dressed in a tattered, wet outfit. Some trousers, where one leg ended at the knee and another by your ankle, along with a blouse that was definitely too big for you and had ripped sleeves. You stared at Evan.

“It’s the closest thing I could find! You try finding something in the time I did, and we’ll see how you-”

“Hello?”

Your best friend gasped and ducked underwater.

It was him! You opened your mouth, but no sound came out. You stood up and immediately lost balance, going to your right, left, right, before falling back into the sand.

“Is anyone there?”

You got up again. You were going to walk whether your legs cooperated or not. You held out your arms and made sure you had your balance. With a smile, you took a step forward.

You fell. You gasped and landed on something.

“Whoa! What, are you blind or something?”

You laughed a little, and once your eyes met his, he grasped your shoulders. The prince smiled. “You’re her, aren’t you?” He laughed a little. “The girl who saved me!”

You beamed and nodded enthusiastically. That was easier than you thought. It was a step closer to getting true love’s kiss and your tail and legs. Learning about the human world and how they advanced all while being with your friends under the sea.

Connor laughed. “What’s your name?”

(Y/n)! You gasped. You couldn’t speak because that was part of the deal. You couldn’t tell him.

His eyes lost their shine. “Oh, you can’t be her then.”

You grabbed his hand and shook your head. You tried to gesture what had happened. About the sea witch and the tail and the legs and the voice.

Instead, he just raised his eyebrow. “I didn’t understand any of that uh,” he copied your wild gestures “Uh, do you know how to write? Maybe we could get you home or something.”

You sighed and nodded. Well, it was still something. You could tell him everything.

You tripped again, and he caught you again. “Ok, I have no clue what happened to you, Sea Legs, but I’m already late, so…” You gasped as he swept you off your feet and carried you the rest of the way. This was definitely going to be interesting.

~ - ~

You splashed in the tub. Wasn’t as big as the ocean, but still pretty fun. You took a deep breath and sunk under the water. You smiled and played with your floating hair, brushing your fingers through it. When you came back up for air, the woman pushed something into your hair, making it heavier and sparkle with bubbles. You giggled and stuck your fingers in your hair.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’ll take care of it. Your hair will be squeaky clean after I’m done!”

After your bath, you were dressed in a simple dress that was a light blue. You smiled and smoothed out the dress over and over. You hoped your family and friends were doing ok without you. Hopefully, Evan became a good liar while you were gone.

“Uh, Miss?”

You blinked and turned to the woman. You hadn’t seen her before. She smiled brightly and held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Alana, Princess Zoe’s lady-in-waiting.”

You shook her hand and waved to say hello.

The woman continued, “Wow, you are very beautiful. No wonder Connor decided to help you out. Not that he doesn’t help people out. Actually, well, he doesn’t, but ever since that mystery woman, with the voice of an angel he says, saved him from the shipwreck, well, he’s been up and about trying to help as many as he could.”

You nodded along, the speeding words almost dizzying you.

“Well, anyway, Connor wanted me to escort you to the library. You could write out your name and your entire story there. Come along.” As Alana led you to the library, she told you so much about the castle. She told you about its rich history, and what should’ve been a two-minute walk turned into a twenty-minute walk.

You were just so intrigued by everything! The walls were sturdy and didn’t need to be replaced every few years due to currents. The ceilings were so high, it seemed like you were at the bottom of the ocean. They didn’t have a lot of colors around the palace, though. Your palace back home decorated the columns according to which part of the castle they were in. The dining room had green columns with seaweed sticking here and there, while the library had pink and brown coral where some of the starfish bookkeepers lived.

“Finally, Alana! What took you so f-” Connor’s eyes landed on you.

You were still admiring the shelves and shelves of books. As you leaped forward and grabbed onto the ladder, the light caught your eyes perfectly. You were so genuinely happy as you skimmed the books you had grabbed from the shelves.

Alana nudged the prince. “Done staring, Connor?”

He cleared his throat and shoved Alana aside. “So, ready to tell us your name?”

You looked up from your book and nodded. You carefully put the book back on the shelf and climbed down the ladder.

Your legs were still a bit shaky, but nothing you couldn’t handle. The prince offered you a hand, to support you guessed, but you just smiled and sat down, looking for some sort of ink.

Connor smiled and handed you a feather with ink at the tip. “So, what’s your name?”

You wrote it out carefully and showed it to him.

Connor sighed. “That’s not my language.” He sighed. “I don’t get it. You understand me, and…”

Alana stared at it. “No, wait I recognize that. I read that from somewhere.” She climbed the ladder and skimmed through a few books before finding one. “Here. Uh, it looks like this right?” She showed it to you, and you nodded.

Alana furrowed her brow. “It’s Atlantean, an old language.”

The prince stared at the book and at your handwriting. “Is there any dictionary or translator we could use?”

“It’ll take me and a few bookkeepers, but we should find something within a few days.”

A few days! You didn’t have a few days. You had two.

“Damn it,” Connor muttered under his breath. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I guess we’ll have to wait on that name, huh, Sea Legs?”

You huffed and slumped in your chair.

Connor laughed. “Me, too.”

You grinned a little. At least you could understand each other to some extent.

Alana stared at the two of you before smiling. “Well, your royal highness, I will inform the bookkeepers of their new task and get back to the princess. You can do as please.” With that, she left the room.

When the door closed, Connor smirked.

You looked at him curiously.

The prince shrugged. “Do as we please, she said. So that means getting the fuck out of this suffocating castle.” He grabbed his coat from the chair and walked towards the door. Before he opened it, he glanced back at you. “Got anything better to do?”

You laughed and jokingly took a few books from the shelves and pretended to read.

Connor rolled his eyes. “Come on!”

You put the books back and followed Connor outside.


	4. A Day Out

The village was amazing! There were so many people that were walking and jumping and dancing. Oh, dancing! You jumped up and down and grabbed Connor’s wrist.

The prince scoffed. “Not happening. I don’t dance.”

You pouted, but when he didn’t budge, you shrugged and jumped into the circle. A man linked arms with you and asked if you knew how to dance. You shook your head, and he laughed. He pulled you away from the crowd and asked, “Want me to teach you?”

You nodded enthusiastically.

The man showed you the steps to the simple dance. You happily followed along and copied his movements. You tripped a few times, but after a few times, you got it. The man smiled. “That’s it! Now, go.” He pushed you towards the dancing crowd. You giggled and happily danced along, linking arms and twirling in circles.

Suddenly, Connor linked arms with you. You shook your head at him.

“What? I got nothing better to do.”

You smiled and danced with Connor. You might’ve stepped on his feet a few times, but to be fair, he stepped on your feet, too.So, he eventually just grabbed you by the waist and put your feet on his.

You laughed and stared at the weird sight.

He explained, “Helps you learn how not to step on people’s feet.”

You raised an eyebrow and pointed at your feet on his.

“Do you wanna dance or not?”

You smiled and went along with his idea. The two of you swayed back and forth, stepped side to side, and laughed at each other’s dancing. “You know, you’re actually not that bad, Sea Legs.”

You nodded, and just as the music ended, you stepped off his feet and curtsied low and mockingly.

Connor shook his head. “Still better than you with your sea legs.”

You laughed, then your eyes caught a poster of the ocean. Oh, was Evan ok? You haven’t seen him since morning. What about your family? Did Evan lie or did they know?

“You wanna go? They always have boats around here. I’ve never went but-”

You nodded and pulled at his arm.

“Hey, hey, I didn’t say I’d go!”

You pouted.

Connor blinked a few times, scoffed, and crossed his arms. “Fine.”

You beamed.

~ - ~

Your fingers skimmed the water and you sighed at the feeling. Even though you loved the world of sand and sun, water still was your element.

“You really like the ocean, don’t you?”

You nodded.

“So do I.” His face darkened. “Although, admittedly, I’m still a bit nervous around water after I almost drowned.”

Your eyes widened. You might have saved him from drowning, but you couldn’t just save him from the memories. He went into the water to save his sister, and he couldn’t make it. He almost died. If you weren’t there… You reached over and put your hand on his.

Connor looked up at you and smiled a little. “Yeah, I was lucky.”

You pointed at yourself then made a gesture like swimming before flexing.

He laughed. “You’re a strong swimmer, huh?”

You nodded.

“Well, then I’m glad I met you.”

You sighed. Yeah, you were glad, too. For a while, the two of you were quiet and just admired the scenery. By the next morning, one day would have passed. Two days left. You had to get true love’s kiss. You had to or else you’d have to go back to the ocean and stay there. You’d learn so much in one day. You wanted to learn more. And if Connor turned out to be him, your actual true love then all the-

Evan?

Your eyes widened at the sight of your best friend and someone else. Jared? You shooed them away.

Jared just gave a thumbs-up and whispered to Evan. Then, the two hid among the reeds. Music filled the air, and you wanted to hit both of your friends very, very badly. Why were they playing music?

Connor looked behind him. “Are we that close to shore? I hear music.”

You just shrugged and prayed that your friends wouldn’t do something too horrible.

Singing filled the air, romantic and sweet, and oh god, you were going to die of embarrassment before the three days were up. Then, they sang your name. You perked up. Nevermind, you loved Evan and Jared. They were the best. You patted Connor and smiled at him.

“What is it? Something wrong?”

You shook your head and pointed at your ear.

“Listen. Not my best strong suit, but ok.”

You and Connor listened to the song. Then, he whispered, “(Y/n)?”

You nodded.

“Your name’s (Y/n)!”

You laughed and held his hand in excitement.

Connor smiled. “(Y/n). You know, that’s kinda pretty.”

You beamed as a way to say thank you.

“Still prefer Sea Legs, though.”

You gasped and playfully hit his arm.

“Ow, that hurt so much.”

You shook your head. Wrong move, princey. You dipped your hand in the water and splashed him. You giggled at the sight of his wet hair sticking to his cheeks.

Connor blinked. Then, he smirked. “You asked for it!” He dropped the oars and splashed you. You spat out saltwater and splashed him again. It wasn’t until both of you were soaked to the bone that the two of you stopped to catch your breath. Then, his eyes met yours. “You know, we still need to get you home.”

You sighed. Right, he still thought you were some girl from a shipwreck from a country who spoke Atlantean. You blew some hair out of your face and stared at the water.

“What? You don’t want to go home?

You shrugged and made a shaking motion with your hand.

“Ah, ok. Well, if it makes you feel better. I don’t really like my home either. Too strict, stringent. Won’t even let me smoke or sail or anything.” He scoffed. “They think I’m crazy for trying to find the woman who saved me.”

You held his hand again. Hopefully, when you got your voice back, you could comfort him with words, but this would have to do.

Connor smiled. “Thanks, (Y/n).” He laughed and grabbed the oars. “Your hand is fucking cold so we should probably go back and dry up.”

You nodded. Before you left the lagoon, you looked over your shoulder. You smiled at Evan and Jared and gave them both a thumbs up. Jared fist pumped, and Evan mouthed, “Good luck.”

You sighed happily. With the way things were going, you might not need it.


	5. How I See You

You spent the next morning in the library. There were so many interesting inventions humans have made. From wheels to help transport things on the ground to candles that didn’t burn everything. It was amazing how many things they had invented.

“Oh, hello.”

You smiled at the princess.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she admitted. “I just needed to find a book on etiquette.”

You nodded and scoured the many books laid across the table. You grabbed one and handed it to her.

“Oh, thanks.” She looked it over. “I thought you couldn’t read English.”

You pointed at the cover’s drawing and the drawings inside. You mimicked the girls in the photos, lifting your pinky as you drank imaginary tea.

“Oh, you know some etiquette back home then.”

You nodded.

She licked her lips. “Well, uh, did you find anything? About your home?”

You lied and shook your head. There were a few books on the “Ancient” Atlanteans and their language, so technically they did. Zoe didn’t need to know that, though.

“Well, you could stay here as long as you’d like. You make my brother a bit more tolerable.”

You tilted your head. More tolerable?

“Oh god, you haven’t seen him when he’s smoking his pipe, huh?”

Smoke? Like when he was on the ship, right?

“Look, I’m not saying this cause I hate my brother or something. But, Connor, he’s insane, ok?” Zoe’s voice lowered to a whisper. “He can hurt you.” She smiled a little and patted your shoulder. “Just be careful.” She squeezed your shoulder and left.

You took a deep breath. Connor had hurt her. You didn’t know how or when or how many times, but he hurt her. She wanted to warn you.

But maybe you could help him. Alana had said it. After you saved him, he wanted to change. He began helping people more. He helped you. He was trying to be better. He needed help. You scoured the books again. You had heard of people like him back in your kingdom. Bubbles on the brain, they called it. There were different ways of treating, though.

By the time you had as many books as you could find, you opened them and groaned. Not many pictures.

You asked a few of the bookkeepers using gestures and a lot of time for children’s books. You had piles of books with pictures to learn how to write whatever Connor’s language was. YOu examined the words and the pictures that went with it. Some letters had curves. Some corners. Some had both. Their language was definitely weird. You carefully wrote out a few words, a few letters, a few phrases. Then, you tried writing out your name. You smiled and wrote it over and over again.

After a few hours of studying, the doors opened again. “Thought I’d find you here.”

You beamed and shot out of your seat. You hugged Connor and kissed his cheek.

“Fuck off, Sea Legs,” he laughed.

You playfully slapped him.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He cleared his throat. “Fuck off, (Y/n).”

You grimaced and slapped his arm again.

“So, find anything?”

The bookkeepers replied, “No, your royal highness.” You tilted your head back and forth before pulling Connor to your study table. “What the actual-” You handed him one of the children’s book you’ve been studying and then one of the papers you’ve been writing on. You pointed at your chicken scratch of writing.

Connor flipped through the papers. “(Y/n), I can’t understand.”

Your heart dropped.You’d spent hours on it. You grabbed the paper and looked over it. Before you could grab a quill and try fixing your mistakes, Connor put the paper down. “(Y/n), you don’t need to worry about learning how to write English. I understand you fine.”

You stomped your foot.

“I know you’re frustrated, but-”

Your eyes lit up. You got another book, opened it, and pointed at a woman teaching some students. Then, you pointed at Connor. You pointed at the students then at yourself.

“I am not teaching you English. I’m not a good teacher.”

You crossed your arms.

“What do I expect you to do? Well, stop reading the damn books, and vent out your frustrations another way.”

You raised your eyebrow.

He laughed. “I’ll show you.” He grabbed your wrist and pulled you away from your books.

You giggled as he led you through the castle. He let the two of you stop every few minutes when you found something interesting. Especially with the paintings. They were beautiful. There were so many portraits of the royal family. You stopped in front of one in particular, where a younger Prince Connor was smiling brightly.

You beamed and pointed at him.

Connor stared at it. “Yeah, those were the good days.”

Good days? You squeezed his hand then hugged his arm.

He laughed. “Well, are you going to come with me or stare at the portraits?”

The prince led you to roof of the castle. You gasped. The sun was still high in the sky and shone across the kingdom, a picturesque collage of green, blue, pink, purple. You could see the shimmering ocean, and if you looked closely, you could catch glimpses of the outskirts of your own kingdom.

“It’s definitely a nice view.”

You smiled in agreement.

Connor pulled out a pipe and some other substance. “This is how I relax.”

You sat next to him and observed as he breathed in through the pipe, took the pipe away from his lips, and blew out smoke. You stared at the floating smoke and waved your hand through it. You gasped when the smoke moved like water around your hands and curled around your fingers before disappearing.

“Have you never smoked?”

You shook your head.

He handed the pipe over to you. “Wanna try?”

You nodded and put the pipe to our lips. You slowly inhaled and immediately coughed. It burned! It was hot and coarse and how did he manage to do this?

Connor laughed a little before patting your back and taking the pipe back. “Sorry, should’ve warned you. First time’s not exactly fun.”

You coughed a bit more before shaking your head.

“Yeah, yeah, ok I get it. Not for you. So, what does Sea Legs do to relax.”

You smiled and took his pipe.

“Hey!”

You took it apart.

“What the fuck?”

Then, you put it back together and handed it back to him. Connor’s face was a mix of shock and intrigue, with a slack jaw and shining eyes.

You laughed at his expression and nodded. You put your two hands together, pulled them apart, and put them back together.

“So, taking things apart, putting back together. That’s your kind of thing?”

You gave him a thumbs-up. You did it so often with many human objects. You even did it for merpeople things, Whether they were as complicated as the harpsichord in the royal ballroom or as simple as the curtains in the bedrooms. You tried examining other things that were more interesting, but the king was always so strict.

“That takes thinking. What about no thinking? Something you do just cause.”

You blinked a few times. Well, there was one other thing. You motioned swimming.

“Right, you do love the water.” He gulped. “Still a bit uneasy.”

You shrugged and held his hand.

“Thanks. Still trying to find that girl who saved me.” He inhaled through his pipe and again and blew out more smoke. “But who knows, maybe she doesn’t want to be found.”

What? No! That wasn’t the case. You were there. You wanted to scream. You held his hand with both of yours and tried to express what you mean through your facial expressions. Any girl would be lucky to have him. He was funny, kind, and just trying to live life by his own means.

He laughed a little. “I mean, I’m already a prince. If she hasn’t shown up by now, she must be avoiding me.” Connor’s eyes glistened with tears, and he turned away from you. “I guess I’m just that messed up, huh?”

No! No one was that messed up. Well, there were rare exceptions, but not him. He didn’t have bad intentions, he just had so much stress and didn’t know how to deal with it. You needed to tell him that. You needed to show him that.

You reached out and pointed at his pipe.

Connor sniffed and gave it to you. You took it apart again and laid out the pieces. You pointed at his eyes then at the mess before exaggerating not being able to put it together. You pulled at your hair and fell back against the roof.

He laughed a little. “You’re crazy, Sea Legs.”

You sat up and huffed.

“Ok, ok. Uh, how I see what?”

You pointed at him.

“Oh, uh, how I see myself is like the pipe.”

You nodded and repeated your movements of not being able to put it back together.

“Broken. Yeah, pretty much.”

You shook your head, pointed at your eyes. Then, you fixed the pipe, except for one piece. You held out your hand, and Connor stared at it weirdly. You shook your hand, and Connor understood. He put your hand in yours. You guided Connor’s hand so that he put the last piece of the pipe’s puzzle. You smiled at him, hoping to whatever gods there were that Connor understood.

“You see me as someone that can be fixed?”

You nodded. You wished you could say that he deserved to know that. That He deserved help and consideration and self-confidence. He was the prince for crying out loud.

Connor smiled a little, and your thoughts quieted. You smiled and kissed his cheek.

He laughed. “Thanks, Sea Legs. Almost believed it for a second.”

You squeezed his hand tightly.

“Ah, ok, I’ll work on it. I’ll work on it.” He sighed. “Now give me the damn pipe.”

You laughed and held it out of his reach for just a second. Connor leaned in closer to grab it, and just like that, you froze. You really meant to move and give it to him. It was just that his eyes were looking right into yours, and you could feel his breath on your lips. Your eyes flickered from his deep brown eyes to his lips.

If you kissed him, leaned forward just a bit, then the deal could be up. You’d get your voice You’d tell him everything. Or he wasn’t your true love, and you could spend another day looking for your true love. You’d waste less time. That was the best thing to do for you.

But it wasn’t right. Kissing him just to end or reveal something. You were not going to use Connor. No, he was your friend, and he didn’t deserve to be used.

Connor leaned forward just a bit, his eyes trained on your reaction.

“Connor!”

You cleared your throat and moved away from Connor. The prince didn’t move. He glared at Alana and growled, “Yes?”

Alana stared at the two of you. “Sorry to interrupt, but the first batch of contestants are here. And you know your sister will have to entertain them if you don’t-”

“I’m coming.” Connor stood up and held out his hand.

You let him help you up and gave back his pipe.

He smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, (Y/n). Library after lunch?”

You nodded.

Then, he was gone.

You looked at Alana, not sure whether to be relieved or annoyed. The woman just smiled. “You know, if the prince would just get a little courage, he’d call off those contestants.”

You tilted your head. Contestants?

“Oh, you don’t know. Well, since the prince was saved from that sinking ship, he said he wanted to find the woman who saved him and requested her to come forward. When the entire kingdom showed up, women now have to go through extensive screening before talking to the prince. Apparently, Connor thinks that if he only needs to hear the girl’s voice, and he’ll know.”

You sighed. He wasn’t going to find her. If only you could prove it was you. He wouldn’t have to go through the competition and screening and whatever he was doing to find his mystery girl.

Alana smiled at you. “Don’t worry. I don’t think any mystery girl could get the prince to look at her like he looks at you.”

Your eyes widened. You pointed at yourself.

“Of course! Now” -She offered her arm- “let’s go back to the library.”

You nodded and looped our arm through hers.


	6. The Spell

After looking at more books with Alana and the bookkeepers, you took some papers, quills, and ink down to the shore. You sat on a rock and skimmed the water with your fingers. After a few minutes, Jared popped out from the water. “Ey-”

You shushed him.

“Right, right. Merpeople don’t exist. I get it.” He swam around your rock. “Woah. Evan wasn’t kidding.” He poked your foot, and you immediately slapped his hand away. He held up in hands in surrender. “Gimme a break! I haven’t seen legs up close!”

“Jared.” Evan smiled at you. “How’s everything? I mean, I know it’s not amazing cause, you know, the voice situation, but-”

“He’s asking about his crush,” Jared clarified.

“N-No, I’m not! I’m worried about everyone, the prince, the g-girl, the crew members… and such.”

You laughed and gave Evan a thumbs up.

Evan blushed. “Th-That’s good. I was hoping, you know. Humans aren’t used to water. I’ve heard they can get diseases if they’re in it for too long. I mean, some can, but there’s pneumonia, swimmer’s ear, I mean they’re quite vulnerable to-”

“How’s the kiss coming?” Jared asked.

Evan nodded. “Yeah, are you close? No pressure. I mean, yes, there is pressure, because of the contract… and the magic… and the witch and chores. Then, my father-”

You reached out for Evan’s hand and squeezed it before pointing to the paper.

“Oh, writing. Writing’s good. Yeah, write out the whole story.”

Jared looked at your paper and quill. “Include cool things on one side, and Zoe stuff on the other.”

“Jared!”

You laughed and wrote out the important details. The village, the dancing, the books, the pipe. You included your conversation with Zoe and Alana, too.

“Some sort of contest to see who sounds like you?” Jared asked. “Damn, he really liked the girl who saved him.”

Evan’s eyes furrowed. “Bubbles on the brain? You really think so?”

You nodded and wrote more. He seems to be sad and not think much of himself and can’t seem to escape it. Jared nodded. “Yeah, definitely sounds like bubbles on the brain. He’d need a doctor who specializes in that.”

You nodded. When I get my voice back, I’ll insist upon it.

For the rest of the night, you told them about the curious things you’ve encountered while in the castle, from stairs to candles. They updated you on things back in the kingdom. Your family was worried, of course, but still many were claiming that you just ran away or got lost on some shipwreck. Both were plausible, to be honest.

The next morning before lunch, you went back out to the shore, and both of your friends were there before you. You held your hands up. What in the world-

“Congratulations!” Jared said. “I can’t believe you snagged the prince like that!” Jared snapped.

Evan fidgeted with his fingers. “Uh, I mean, it’s a bit impulsive in my opinion. I mean, I love you, (Y/n), but isn’t it a bit too soon?”

You stared at the two of them. What the fuck were they talking about?

Jared and Evan looked at each other. “Well, you know what, (Y/n),” Jared said, “why don’t you go out on the town, meet someone, you know? The prince is overrated.”

You shook your head. Snagging a prince? Too soon to do so? No, it couldn’t be.

Evan swam up to you. “(Y/n)!”

You sprinted back to the castle. It was impossible! Connor never said anything about betrothal. He just said he wanted to find the girl who saved him. Wait, if he got betrothed to the girl who saved him and it wasn’t you, then whoever it was lying to him. You had to stop this! If he found out it wasn’t her too far into whatever relationship they had, he’d be devastated. Whoever she was, she was going to pay for lying to Connor.

You flew past hallways and rooms until finally, you saw him in one of the rooms for dancing.

Your heart shattered in an instant. He was… dancing. WIth a stunningly beautiful woman. Connor, he looked happy. He was laughing and talking as if he had nothing in the world to worry about. He was even dancing better.

You leaned against a column and took deep breaths. Whoever this was, did she make him better? She must’ve cared for him.

“Oh, lovely, Prince Connor! And sweetheart, you dance brilliantly,” the instructor said.

You closed your eyes and let the tears burn past your cheeks.

Then, she spoke, “Thank you. Really, it was all Connor.”

You wiped your tears. That was your voice. Your actual voice! You scrutinized the woman and gasped. That necklace, it was the same one the sea witch used to take your voice. It couldn’t be.

“Well, you two are already ready for the wedding,” the instructor said.

Connor nodded. “Good then. The wedding will be later tonight.”

“Really, tonight? Your royal highness-”

“Tonight!” Connor boomed. “I-I, uh, need to marry her tonight.”

The fiancee giggled your giggle and looked over her shoulder, straight at you.

You glared at her. You were not going to let the sea witch trick Connor. She could make slights at you. You asked for it and signed for it. Connor didn’t need this.

“What about a wedding on the sea?” the fiancee suggested.

Connor’s eyes widened. “Uh, I’m not sure. I mean” -he shivered and straightened up again- “I would love to. Arrange for that immediately.”

The servants around the room stood perplexed.

“Well?!” Connor yelled.

The servants scattered, bumped into each other, and rushed to fulfill his request, or rather the sea witch’s request.

“We should board this ship immediately,” the fiancee suggested.

“Yes,” Connor said. “We should.”

You clutched your chest. Connor was still scared of water since the accident! She couldn’t. You wouldn’t let her!

You got up and ran right into two soldiers. You frantically tried to get pass them, but they just told you, “His royal highness has requested that you leave immediately.”

You shook your head and tried to tell them what was going on, but they couldn’t understand. Their prince was in danger! They needed to understand. Connor, your friend, he was in trouble!

“Miss, if you refuse to leave palace grounds-”

“Wait!” Alana ran to the guards. “Wait, you can’t force her to leave when the princess is asking for her presence.”

The guards stared at Alana, as if challenging her. The woman just put her fists on her hips and said, “I can tell the princess you don’t want to follow her orders, but-”

“Fine, but Prince Connor wants her gone.”

You stared at the ground. He was under a spell. He was under a spell. He didn’t mean what he said. You just had to save him. Without a voice. Without your friends. While he was out at sea on a ship. No, you had to save him. No matter what. It didn’t matter if the deal was up or not, you were going to save him.

Alana tugged at your arm. You raised an eyebrow at her. “Princess Zoe does want to see you. Just in case, we’re also packing you clothes and things if you get-”

You ripped your arm from her grasp and stomped your foot. You pointed at yourself then at the ground.

Alana sighed. “I know you want to stay, but with Connor acting like… that, I’m not sure how long his younger sister and I can keep him.” She continued to lead you through the halls. “I know, it’s uncharacteristic of him, but you don’t understand. You haven’t known him as long as the princess and I have.” Alana sighed. “He does crazy things sometimes.”

You shook your head.

She smiled. “It’s nice that you think of him like that.”

You closed your eyes. You were going to save him. With or without her help.

The princess was playing music on an instrument you didn’t recognize. She looked up and smiled. “(Y/n), hello, sorry. I play when I’m stressed. I just… have you talked to Connor lately?”

You waved your hand over your shoulder.

“Yesterday?”

You nodded.

“Did he say anything about a betrothal to the girl who saved him?”

You shook your head.

She groaned. “I know Connor’s stupid, but he’s not this stupid!”

“Have you tried talking to him?” Alana asked.

The princess nodded. “He just flipped me off and told me to mind my own fucking business. He hears her voice, and he’s down on one knee?” She sighed. “I mean, I don’t know what to do.” Zoe gulped and gestured to you. “That’s why I want you to talk to him. He was more… tolerable when he hung out with you. Maybe you can knock some common sense into his empty skull.”

Alana cleared her throat. “Uh, Princess, he has ordered her to leave the castle.”

“What?” she whispered. She screamed and lifted her skirts. “I’m going to-”

“Zoe!” Alana blocked her from the door. “Connor moved the wedding to this afternoon. A few hours from now. He’s preparing for his wedding as we speak.”

Zoe shook her head. “You’re kidding.”

“Unfortunately, I’m not.”

The princess sighed and stared at you. “Well, I’m at a loss.” She composed herself. “Fine. If Connor wants to ruin his life, he can do so. I’m done caring for my brother’s well-being.”

You shook your head and reached out for her. She cared for Connor, too. She could help him. Maybe more than you could.

“Leave me be.” Zoe sat on her chair and began to play again.

You wanted to scream. It wasn’t him! She just had to help you defeat the witch and save Connor. Before you could reach her, Alana pulled you away and took you outside the princess’s room. You tried to gesture the real situation but Alana didn’t understand. Instead, she straightened out your dress. “I don’t have much time.”

You tilted your head.

“Some servants are preparing your things as we speak. By the time you finish talking to him in the library, your things will be outside the library.”

You smiled a little.

Alana nodded. “Well, the prince is complicated, and he’s been better when he’s around you. Princess Zoe had told him to meet with her in the library. Since she’s not going anymore, I think you can go in her place.” She patted your shoulder. “Now, go talk to him.”

You smiled and rushed to the library.

Joy filled your heart, and you hugged Connor immediately.

“Woah! Sea legs?”

You nodded and looked up at him. You kissed him on the cheek.

Connor laughed, then stopped. His brown eyes turned green. He shivered, stiffened. Then, he pushed you off. “Shouldn’t you be leaving? I told the guards to escort you out of the palace.”

Your chest ached. It looked so real. His eyes were full of spite and disgust. Was that what Zoe was talking about before? No, this hurt, but it wasn’t Connor. You grabbed his hand and kissed his cheek.

“Fuck off! Why are you so clingy?” He pointed at you, as if accusing you. “Just because you can’t fucking talk doesn’t give you the right to latch onto the first person you see.”

Tears burned in your eyes. He didn’t mean it. He didn’t mean it. He didn’t mean it.

“What? You thought I actually cared about you? I pitied you, yeah, but I don’t give a shit about what happens to you. As long as you’re gone.”

He couldn’t mean that. It wasn’t him, but it hurt. It hurt too much. It was his voice that cut like glass and his eyes that burned through you. What if the sea witch was just making him tell the truth? What if all those conversations, laughter, dances were just fake, out of pity for the shipwrecked girl with no voice? You weren’t anything to him. Just some project that he was tired of.

He laughed, and everything hurt. “Just leave. What can you do when you’re here, huh? Fail at learning English? Remind me how much I hate the ocean? Lie to me about my self-worth?”

Everything was broken beyond repair. You couldn’t take it. You couldn’t stand it. You wanted to get out.

So you did.

You stumbled out of the room with tears in your eyes, and every time you took a step, it felt like your body caught on fire. You grabbed the suitcase outside of the library, and when the guards told you weren’t allowed in the castle, you followed them. You weren’t needed anymore.


	7. Not Losing You

You found yourself at one of the docks. You tried finding one where you couldn’t see the ship decked out for a royal wedding, but the ship was unavoidable.

“(Y/n)?”

You sniffed and waved at your friends.

“What happened?” Evan asked.

You wiped your eyes and wrote everything down before handing it to him and Jared.

The two looked it over and gasped. Evan was near tears and he asked, “Wait, so shouldn’t you be on the boat?”

You let out a pitiful laugh and shrug.

“(Y/n), come on! You and Connor are meant to be!” Jared slammed the paper against the dock. “You are going on that ship. Come on, jump in.”

“Ok, we need a plan,” Evan explained. “I mean, we have to be prepared. This is the sea witch. She probably has soldiers stationed so that (Y/n) won’t be able to get on the ship. She might have minions with one goal in mind, to get her!”

“Ok, then distraction.” Jared tapped his chin. “My inventions! (Y/n), I found things that call on birds and make them go crazy. We can lure them to the boat. I even have a catapult. I’m not sure if I have anything else that can help, but anything I can get, I’ll-”

“I could get the trident,” Evan whispered.

Your eyes widened, and you shook your head.

Jared sputtered, “Dude, the k-your father, he’ll kill you.”

“And if I don’t get the trident, (Y/n) could be forced to be a slave. The three of us know that thing like that back of our hands. We could use it against her and we won’t have to worry about it backfiring and it’s the only accurate weapon we have. So you have to let me do this!” He heaved.

You reached out and held his hand.

Evan sighed. “(Y/n), you’re my best friend. I’m getting the trident. With that, we will get you out of this. And if we can’t, we’re going to be there for you to help you with your jobs and with helping Connor from afar. Let us do this for you!” Evan reached out and squeezed your hand.

You took a deep breath. It wasn’t a sound plan. You stared at the boat. Connor was in trouble. He needed help. Alana was helpless. Zoe didn’t want to help anymore. You and your friends were the only ones who knew the truth. You had to help him. You had to try.

You smiled and jumped into the water.

“That’s it!” Jared cheered. “Can you swim on your own?”

You nodded.

“Ok, Evan, steal that trident, we are crashing a wedding!”

You swam to the boat as fast as you could and climbed the side of the boat as expertly as you did the night you saw Connor for the first time. You waited until finally, birds were squawking above you. When you could see the guests dissolving into chaos, you jumped onto the boat and quickly found the sea witch, who was currently fighting a bird.

You smirked and ran towards her.

“No!” she shrieked.

Your fingers brushed the necklace.

“Stop.” Connor grabbed your wrist.

You shook your head and said his name in a silent prayer. It didn’t help. He was still under her control. His eyes never left yours and you could feel your heart being pulled in different directions, stretching too far for you to comprehend.

“You don’t want to hurt me, do you?”

You inhaled through your teeth. That’s why you needed the necklace. You were saving him. You shook your head. It wasn’t Connor. You mouthed an apology before kicking Connor’s knee. As he yelped and moved away, you grabbed the sea witch’s necklace and threw it against the ground.

The sea witch cursed under her breath.

Smoke, just like the smoke from Connor’s pipe, rose from the necklace’s broken pieces.

You waved your fingers through it until it filled your mouth. You breathed it in and sighed. It felt like a hot drink soothing a sore throat. “Finally,” you whispered. You breathed out and massaged your throat. You didn’t think you’d miss your voice so much.

“(Y/n)?”

You beamed. “Connor?”

The haze and fog disappeared from the prince’s eyes. Then, his line for lips grew until the prince’s smile was as bright as the sun itself. Connor ran to you and held your shoulders. He brushed your wet hair back and laughed. “You’re her. The girl who saved me.”

“I wanted to tell you,” you told him. “I wanted to tell you so badly, but-”

“It’s ok.” He laughed and stroked your cheeks. “You can tell me after.”

“After what?”

He smiled and leaned in close. You shuddered then composed yourself and closed your eyes. Just as your lips brushed his, pain engulfed your legs. You screamed.

“(Y/n)!”

The witch laughed. “You’re too late!” The ship rocked back and forth, and the sea witch transformed into her octopus form.

Your legs fused. Bones broke. Scales pricked and scarred until your tail was back. You shook your head. “No. No! You said three days!”

She grabbed you and cackled. “And they are up!”

“Let her go!” Connor drew his sword.

“Oh, dear, I thought we would work it out.” She laughed. “Guess not anymore.” The sea witch plunged into the ocean with you in tow. “Connor!”

“(Y/n)!” Connor growled. “What does a guy have to do to get a fucking break around here?” He stomped to the wheel and took it from the captain. “Get everyone in the boats.”

“What about you, your royal-”

Connor stared at the ocean. The prince gulped and closed his eyes. “I lost her once.” His eyes narrowed. You were in danger. It didn’t matter if that bitch dragged you down to the deepest part of the sea. “I am not losing her again.”

You struggled in the sea witch’s grip. “Let me go!”

“Ah, ah, ah. You signed a contract, remember? You fail to get true love’s kiss and you owe me.”

“Hey!” Jared swam up to the sea witch. “Let her go!”

“Or you’ll what?” taunted the sea witch.

Seaweed sprung out of nowhere and entangled her tentacles.

“No!” she screamed. Jared pulled you out of her grasp. Evan dropped the catapult and swam along you guys.

“What are we doing?” you asked.

“Swimming!” Jared responded.

Evan added, “As long as it’s away from her!” He dove towards the ocean floor and grabbed the hidden trident before rejoining you. Suddenly, the three of you were surrounded by her two eels. You gasped and tried to pull both boys behind you, but Evan wasn’t having it. He swam in front of you and held the trident in front of him. “S-Stay back!”

Jared whispered, “Evan, I can see the contract.”

Evan spotted the contract on the ocean floor, near the struggling sea witch.

“Evan, don’t.” You held his arm. “It’s too close.”

His grip tightened on the weapon. Then, he relaxed.

Evan dove towards the contract.

“Evan!” you screamed. Jared held you back, while the eels darted after Evan and his trident. Once he was close enough, he aimed the trident and fired it.

You screamed. The contract and your body glowed yellow. You fell to the ocean floor and clung to your arms as the pain pierced your skin.

Jared was right by your side. He demanded, “What have you done to her?”

The sea witch, now free from the seaweed, laughed. “You think you can destroy the contract? It’s binding, dears. She promised to be my servant, and a servant she shall be.” The witch lifted her arms, and you floated towards her.

Evan growled and pointed the trident at the eels. “Let her go!”

The eels only hissed and surrounded Jared.

Your best friend frantically wavered between targets, the eels and the witch.

The sea witch gasped. “Well, well, what do we have here? Does the underwater prince love our naive mermaid here?”

Evan gulped. “Yes.” He pointed the trident at the witch. “Let them go.”

The witch hummed. “Well, I could, but the contract is binding. Unless, someone took her place, someone of equal or greater value than a little mermaid.” She smirked as the realization flashed across Evan’s eyes.

“No, Evan!” you screamed, only to be met with more pain pushing against you.

Evan stared at the contract. “L-Like a prince?”

“Yes, dear.” The witch smiled. “Like a prince in possession of the most powerful trident in the sea.”

Your best friend gripped the trident. He looked at Jared, still struggling against the eels, then at you. You shook your head. He couldn’t pay for your mistake. Not your best friend. Evan smiled at you and pointed the trident at the contract. With tears in his eyes, he aimed the trident at the contract and signed his name.

You cried in agony. “Evan!”

Just like that, the yellow glow took over your best friend, from his tail to his hair, and he wailed in pain. He shrunk down and transformed into one of those sticky, clingy plants at the front of the witch’s house.

You dove towards the trident, but the sea witch was too fast. She aimed the weapon at you and smiled. “Say goodbye, mermaid.”

Before she could hit you or you could swim away, something pierced the back of her shoulder. The witch fell forward and screamed. She turned around, and both of you spotted the culprit with a crossbow swimming towards the surface.

“Connor!” You bolted to him.

When the witch aimed again at the two of you, Jared distracted you. You pulled Connor up to the surface. “You have to leave.”

The prince blinked a few times and wiped the saltwater from his eyes. When he saw the raging ocean around him, he gasped and closed his eyes. Even though his jaw was clenched and he was trembling in your grasp, he managed to say, “Not without you.”

The sea rumbled and crashed around you. The current pushed and pulled, but you swam through it all and kept Connor afloat. You ducked your head underwater. Jared was still holding the sea witch off, but you could see the sea floor and more importantly what was on it. Sunken ships. The currents the sea witch was producing were bringing sunken ships to the surface. You swam to the nearest canoe and pulled Connor onto it. The prince coughed. “Your friend-”

“I have an idea, but you need to trust me.” You held his hands and stared at the sea. “I’m going to distract her.”

“Like hell you are.”

“Connor, she doesn’t want you. She wants me. If you could sail this thing towards her and hit her, she can drop the trident.”

Connor opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He stared at the sea. “I’m not losing you again,” he stated angrily.

You smiled and nodded. “You won’t.” You kissed his cheek and jumped off the ship. “Hey!” you shouted.

The sea witch grinned. “There you are.” She shot at you, but you easily evaded it. You swam up to the surface and smiled when the sea witch was on your tail. She aimed at you again and missed.

You scoffed. “You really need a trident to kill me? I’m honored.”

The witch lowered her weapon and advanced towards you. “You think I’m in the mood for your commentary?”

You slowly kept swimming towards the surface, keeping an eye on the shadow of Connor’s vessel as it edged closer.

“First, my eels bring the wrong kid. Then, you decide to actually love a prince, and I had to put on that ugly form just to prevent that true love’s kiss.”

You lifted your head above the water as the sea witch finished, “I am done with your shenanigans!” She lifted the trident.

You dove underwater just as Connor’s ship hit the sea witch. She dropped the trident, and you caught it expertly. The woman looked at you and laughed. “That contract is binding. There’s nothing you can do to change it.”

You gripped the trident in your hands and even as she swam closer, you never faltered in aiming.

She taunted. “Are you going to kill me, little mermaid?”

You looked at the trident and tried to remember what else the famous weapon could do.

The witch was so close, her chest touched the tip of the trident. “Go ahead, mermaid. I dare you.”

You blinked a few times. Then, you smirked. “My pleasure.” You twisted the trident in your hands and pressed it against her forehead. The trident pulsated in your grip, and the purple glow of magic around her became visible.

The witch hissed. “What are you-”

“I didn’t read the contract, but I did read the king’s handbook on this thing.” You pressed the trident against her more. “This controls the currents of the sea and of magic.” You smiled. “Say goodbye to your powers.”

“What?”

The purple glow faded and streamed into the trident.

You pulled the trident away and held it your hand. “Definitely heavier.”

The currents died down, and the water was crystal clear once more. The witch clutched her chest and stared at you with wide eyes. Just as she was about the swim away, Jared stood in her way. “Nuh-uh, sea bitch.”

She growled and swam the other way.

Evan swam from the seafloor and blocked her way. “As Prince Evan of the Seven Seas, I hereby condemn you to a life sentence in Atlantica’s prison.” Your best friend held out his hand.

You happily gave him the trident.

The sea witch swam away, but Evan was prepared. He aimed the trident and shot. The sea witch poofed. Evan laughed a little. “Uh, good thing we stole the trident a few times, huh?” He scratched the back of his head.

You beamed and hugged him. “You did it!”

Jared hugged the two of you. “That was amazing!”

Evan laughed and hugged Jared and you back.

She was gone.

“(Y/n)!” Connor called from above.

You looked to your friends and hugged them one last time before swimming up to the surface.

Connor was still in his rowboat, and when you popped out of the ocean, he smiled. “You’re ok!”

You nodded. You felt the pull towards him, but once you started swimming, you realized you had a tail. He didn’t. He was a prince, from land. You were… a commoner, a friend of the prince from the seas. You stopped yourself and smiled a little. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

The prince blinked a few times. He stared at your tail then at his boat. “You’re not coming with me. Are you?” He sounded disappointed, mad even. You wanted to hold his hand like you did before you got your voice back, but… how would it ever work? Without the sea witch’s magic, you couldn’t walk on land.

You cared a lot about Connor. You wanted to help him with his bubbles on the brain and his concerns about being a prince. You wanted to take him out to the village and reassure him when the ocean seemed too ominous.

Then, fear flashed in his eyes. The prince inched away from the side of the canoe and tensed up.

You reached out and held his hand immediately. “Connor.”

Connor closed his eyes and gripped your hand tightly.

“I’m going to get you home, ok? I’ve done it once, I could do it again.”

He laughed a little and took a deep breath. Then, Connor opened his eyes and smiled widely.

You tilted your head. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

He blinked a few times and cleared his throat. “No reason.” He blushed a little. “Your voice. It’s nice to hear it.”

You fought the smile curling your lips, but you ultimately lost and let yourself beam up at the prince. “Thank you.” Your heart ached. No sea witch to help you now. You could only be what you are, and from Connor’s smile and joy, it seemed to be enough. If only his opinion was the only thing that mattered and not logic and magic.

You shook your head. “Let’s get you home.”


	8. To Stand Next to You

Jared, Evan and you were piling over the books and letters. It had been a few months since Evan sentenced the sea witch to prison. While the king hated what the three of you did, he knew the trident was different. He needed people to study it before he could use it again, so all three of you and a few others were working tirelessly to discover everything you could.

You swam into the room.

“How was it?” Jared teased.

You rolled your eyes. “Connor has been meeting with doctors on land. So far none have worked, but he’s trying.” He looked to Evan. “You know, Zoe wants to meet the guy who saved her, too.”

Evan laughed a little. “What? That’s, um, maybe later.”

You smiled.

The three of you looked at each other before nodding. Jared made sure no one was nearby and closed the doors.

You asked, “Did you guys find anything?”

“Still not much, but we’re getting closer,” Evan said.

Jared scoffed. “We think.” He looked over the trident and all the studies on the table. “I mean, the tridents act differently because of all the sea witch magic and all, but… We’re still not sure how to control it.”

You bit your lip. “Ok, then we keep working.”

* * *

“This is Evan,” you introduced, “Prince of the Seven Seas, banisher of the evil-”

“(Y/n),” he whined.

You giggled. “Sorry, just love saying the full title.” You looked at Zoe. “But, yeah, my best friend, and the one who saved you and half the crew.”

Zoe laughed. She sat down on the rocks and held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Evan.”

“Of course!” Evan coughed. “Sorry, I mean, that it’s nice to meet you, too.”

You let the two talk and followed Connor down the shore. “Those two really hit it off, huh?” you said.

“Better than us.”

You gasped. “What do you mean by that?”

“I was dying when we first met.”

You shook your head. “No, you had just tried saving your sister. Not a bad first impression at all.”

Connor smiled. “I guess.” He glanced back at his sister. “Evan seems like a good man.”

“He is. I wouldn’t love him if he wasn’t.”

Connor stared at you. “Do I have to be worried?”

You blinked a few times. You smiled at Connor and took his hand. “No, because I am working my fins off to stand next to you, not swim next to Evan.”

Connor gazed at you for a few seconds, not really believing you. But how could he not? You looked at him with admiration he had never seen before. He cleared his throat. “Just don’t, uh, spend all your time on it, yeah?” He laughed. “Don’t want you fainting with exhaustion when you get here.”

“I did not faint! I fell.”

“Right into my arms, I remember. I think you fainted at the sight of beauty.”

You laughed. “Although plausible, I don’t think that’s it.”

And so, the two of you talked for hours until the Murphy siblings had to leave.

* * *

You sat on the rocky shore with Evan. The bag of spare clothes Alana prepared was on the tree trunk. This was the thirty-seventh trial. Jared sighed. “Ok, trial thirty-seven, bracelets.” Jared stared between the two of you. “Who wants to go first?”

Evan pointed at you as you raised your hand.

“Right, you know the palace.” Jared took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.” He wrapped the chain around your wrist.

You closed your eyes.

Pain engulfed your tail. Everything under your waist hurt! You squeezed your eyes shut. Oh god, did it hurt this bad the first time? Regardless, you had to keep going. You wanted to walk again. You wanted to dance and run and jump again.

“(Y/n)!”

“Don’t!” you yelled between your heavy breaths. “It hurt before, too.”

“It also hurt during trial twelve!” Jared mentioned.

“I’m getting it off of her.”

“Evan, don’t!”

Just as Evan touched your wrist, he gasped. “(Y/n)?”

“What?” you asked. You opened your eyes. “Legs!” You wiggled your toes. “Legs, I have legs!” You smiled and pushed yourself to your feet. You wobbled a little going from left to right. You laughed when you feel and got right back up. You stood straight, jumped once. Twice. You laughed and spun around. You grabbed the spare clothes and got dressed with a smile on your face. Joy lifted you up and you squealed. “I need to find Connor! I have legs, oh, it feels wonderful!” You twirled around and watched the skirt fan out around you. You faced the castle.

“(Y/n)!” Evan and Jared whined.

You gasped. “Right, sorry!” You crouched down and smiled at them. “Ok, Evan, you ready to walk and meet Zoe?”

Evan looked at both you and Jared. He stared at the bracelet with fear and curiosity. Then, he nodded. “For Zoe.”

You nodded. “For Zoe.” You smiled at Jared. “Ok, let’s do it.” You put your hand on Evan’s shoulder.”It’ll be painful, but I’m right here.”

Evan smiled. Jared put the chain around his wrist, and tears came to Evan’s eyes. He whimpered and squirmed around in silent agony. You wiped his tears and let him squeeze your arm. After a few seconds of watching his fin change into two legs, you giggled. “Evan, open your eyes.” When he was being too slow, you shook his shoulder. “Evan! Come on, I won’t wait for you forever!”

Evan laughed at the sight of his legs. He turned to smile at you, but you just threw a shirt and pants at his face. “Hurry it up! We’ve got a royal family to see! A palace to explore!” And Connor. Oh, you’d get to be with Connor again. You smiled at Jared. “You better make a third one soon, so we could all be together, yeah?”

He saluted. “I know, but for now, go! Don’t let my lazy ass keep you.”

You beamed and grabbed Evan’s hand. You sprinted towards the palace. Evan and you tripped every now and then, but it didn’t matter. No, you were just concentrated on finding him.

“Connor?”

He was outside the gates in his carriage. He had used the same one to take you to the village. He wasn’t going to get out of his carriage, though. Not until he’s past the gates. You waved your hand and ran towards the carriage. “Connor!” You laughed. “Connor!” Suddenly, a guard blocked you and Evan from getting any farther.

“Who are-”

“My name’s (Y/n), and the prince and I are friends. I was the girl he rescued a few months ago. I saved him from the ship-”

The carriage door opened.

You shouted at the top of your lungs, “Connor!”

The prince turned around. His eyes lit up. He said your name, but you were so far. You couldn’t hear his voice. He shook his head, stared at your legs and dress, and smiled. You were beautiful. His eyes narrowed at the guard in front of you. “Hey, she’s with me! They’re with me!”

The guard stepped to the side, and you ran towards the prince. You slammed right into him and hugged him as tightly as you could. You could feel his breathing, the rise and fall of his chest, against your own. His beating heart so close to yours. His breath was against your ear, and his voice, “(Y/n), you’re here,” was the most wonderful sound.

Tears came to your eyes. “I am.” You pressed your smile against the crook of his neck. “I’m right here, Connor.” Your fingers trailed from his neck to his back. You pulled him closer to you, and he laughed. “Someone,” he sniffed, “missed me too much, huh, Sea Legs?”

You exaggerated a gasp and pulled away from the prince. You wiped your tears. “Says the one who orders a guard away from me” -you wiped his tears- “and runs to me like his life depends on it.” You left your hands on his cheeks and gazed up at him. Breathtaking.

Connor blinked a few times before letting his forehead rest against yours. “Well, it’s been a long time.”

You nodded. “That it has.” Just before you closed your eyes to live in the moment, you remembered someone important. You pulled away from Connor, “Sorry, uh, Evan-” Evan wasn’t next to you or behind you. You blinked a few times, then, you saw him by the carriage. He was talking to the princess herself. You giggled. “Nevermind. I guess I can formally introduce you later.”

Connor smiled at the sight of his sister and your best friend. “I like later.”

You tilted your head. Then, he leaned down and kissed you. You gasped against his lips. It didn’t take long for you to smile and kiss him back. Your hands were tangled in his hair, and his hands were pulled your waist closer to him. “Finally,” he murmured.

You responded by kissing him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the entire thing! I really loved this story with all my heart, and I hope you enjoyed the rid. Please, comment and tell me what you think of it! Thank you so much, dear readers, and have a wonderful day!


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